Cable Cleans Up the 2014 Emmy Nominations

July 11, 2014

The 66th Primetime Emmy nominations were announced yesterday and cable programming dominated the podium with over half of all the primetime nominations. Leading the way for cable was (not surprisingly) HBO with 99 noms followed by FX with 45, SHOWTIME with 24, and Comedy Central with 21.

The always competitive drama categories were absolutely dominated by cable hits, taking almost all the nomination slots. Cable also has a good number of nods in the comedy categories, including shows from HBO, Showtime, FX and IFC. In addition, in the miniseries and movie categories, cable shows and actors secured 21 of the 23 nominations for the primetime awards.

This year’s nominations reinforce the trend of the world’s top writers, directors and actors moving to cable and producing cinema-quality programing that dominates both the TV ratings and the awards circuit. Cable programmers invest billions annually – $185 billion since 1996 – to support these dreams. And this year’s Emmy nominees list proves that this hard work is paying off.

Sure, there will be the usual discussion of the snubs and surprises, but for now we can all bask in the past year of great television and celebrate this breadth of diverse content that never fails to entertain us. Perhaps the least surprising element is that this year marked the lowest number of nominations for broadcast television yet.

For more on all the nominees, visit the Emmys website and find out who wins live Monday, August 25th for the 66th Annual Emmys Awards.

September 23, 2013

Last night was the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards and, for the second year in a row, cable programming took well over half of all awards. Trophies went to HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, AMC, BBC America and USA Network. Homeland, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire and The Newsroom won for many of the drama categories, while…